GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s third-largest silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that net profit last quarter contracted 4 percent annually due to significant increases in logistics expenses, as many countries imposed transportation restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Net profit fell to NT$3.4 billion (US$115.1 million), from NT$3.54 billion during the same period last year. On a quarterly basis, net profit rose 18 percent from NT$2.88 billion.
Earnings per share dropped to NT$7.81 last quarter from NT$8.16 a year earlier, but grew from NT$6.62 the previous quarter.
Gross margin fell to 38.6 percent from 40.1 percent a year earlier, but improved from 36.5 percent a quarter earlier.
GlobalWafers generated revenue of NT$27.22 billion in the first half of this year, down 10 percent year-on-year.
However, the company last quarter benefited from rush orders for medical electronic products and customers building up their inventories.
It also benefited from booming demand for e-commerce and digital services due to stay-at-home orders, while the telecommuting trend bolstered demand for computers, cloud services, servers and data centers.
The Hsinchu-based company gave a positive outlook for the second half of this year, thanks to robust customer demand for 12-inch advanced wafers and recovering demand for automotive applications, as a growing number of automakers are reopening their plants.
Revenue in the second half would be flat or increase modestly from the first half, as governments around the world pump unprecedented amounts of stimulus funds into their economies to alleviate the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, GlobalWafers chairperson Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) told a teleconference yesterday.
“First, the automotive [sector] was extremely bad in the first half. We have seen some improvement from May, and we believe that automotive demand will gradually improve quarter-by-quarter in the second half. Second, 12-inch demand will be very strong,” Hsu said.
GlobalWafers also plans to ramp up a new 12-inch fab in South Korea by the fourth quarter of this year, which would boost the company’s capacity and revenue in the second half, Hsu said.
The company aims to have the new fab operating at 75 percent, she said.
GlobalWafers said that its 12-inch and 8-inch fabs are almost fully utilized, while some customers have requested capacity allocation for next year, because they are concerned about supply constraints.
The company said that customers are tending to keep their inventory levels high as part of their contingency plans for a possible second wave of COVID-19 in autumn or winter.
GlobalWafers also gave an upbeat outlook for next year.
“I think 2021 will be a very good year for the semiconductor industry, unless the COVID-19 gets really worse,” Hsu said.
Hsu said that 5G-related applications and mobile phones would be two major growth drivers next year.
The supply-demand situation for silicon wafers would be healthy next year, she added.
JITTERS: Nexperia has a 20 percent market share for chips powering simpler features such as window controls, and changing supply chains could take years European carmakers are looking into ways to scratch components made with parts from China, spooked by deepening geopolitical spats playing out through chipmaker Nexperia BV and Beijing’s export controls on rare earths. To protect operations from trade ructions, several automakers are pushing major suppliers to find permanent alternatives to Chinese semiconductors, people familiar with the matter said. The industry is considering broader changes to its supply chain to adapt to shifting geopolitics, Europe’s main suppliers lobby CLEPA head Matthias Zink said. “We had some indications already — questions like: ‘How can you supply me without this dependency on China?’” Zink, who also
The number of Taiwanese working in the US rose to a record high of 137,000 last year, driven largely by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) rapid overseas expansion, according to government data released yesterday. A total of 666,000 Taiwanese nationals were employed abroad last year, an increase of 45,000 from 2023 and the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed. Overseas employment had steadily increased between 2009 and 2019, peaking at 739,000, before plunging to 319,000 in 2021 amid US-China trade tensions, global supply chain shifts, reshoring by Taiwanese companies and
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) received about NT$147 billion (US$4.71 billion) in subsidies from the US, Japanese, German and Chinese governments over the past two years for its global expansion. Financial data compiled by the world’s largest contract chipmaker showed the company secured NT$4.77 billion in subsidies from the governments in the third quarter, bringing the total for the first three quarters of the year to about NT$71.9 billion. Along with the NT$75.16 billion in financial aid TSMC received last year, the chipmaker obtained NT$147 billion in subsidies in almost two years, the data showed. The subsidies received by its subsidiaries —
At least US$50 million for the freedom of an Emirati sheikh: That is the king’s ransom paid two weeks ago to militants linked to al-Qaeda who are pushing to topple the Malian government and impose Islamic law. Alongside a crippling fuel blockade, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has made kidnapping wealthy foreigners for a ransom a pillar of its strategy of “economic jihad.” Its goal: Oust the junta, which has struggled to contain Mali’s decade-long insurgency since taking power following back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, by scaring away investors and paralyzing the west African country’s economy.
RSS